MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Summer might be Trash Pandas season, but come winter in North Alabama another animal gets the spotlight, but not in a good way: beavers.

The Madison County Commission said it has to set aside $10,000 annually to prevent issues for local properties.

As Commissioner Craig Hill told News 19, the buckteeth critters can have a negative effect on flood control when building their dams in rural parts of the county near the Flint and Paint Rock Rivers.

Commissioners renewed a three-year-old agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on October 12 to remove beavers from private properties when needed, especially in fall and winter when they’re at their busiest.

“In the topography in the county in the southern part, we have rivers that in the rains, we have drainage that we work really hard to make sure drains as best that it can,” Hill said. “And sometimes the beavers, they impede that. When we can remove those dams and allow those areas to drain, it helps our residents. And that’s why this is in place.”

Hill said officials from USDA will come to pick up beavers as needed each year as the county compensates them per pickup.

If you get unwanted dam-building near your property, be sure to call Madison County Public Works, Hill said.